Tunes' Story
by Tunes
Summary: A story about how Tunes became a newsie. A bit boring, a bit fun, a bit of everything.
1. begining

Michael and Lily O'Connor sat on a hill overlooking their beautiful Connecticut ranch watching the sunset with the newest addition to their family, baby Kerrie, nestled in her mothers arms.  
  
"This is the perfect place to start our new life." Michael said gently to his wife.  
  
"And the perfect place to raise out daughter." Lily added, resting her head on her husbands shoulder.  
  
"Good things are going to happen to us." said Michael with a sigh of relief, "I can feel it."  
  
2 YEARS LATER  
  
Lily sat in her chair just about to doze off when,  
  
"Mommy, Mommy!"  
  
She heard Kerrie crying from her room. Lily sighed and pushed her light red hair out of her face.  
  
"I'm coming sweetie"  
  
She walked in to see her toddler sitting in her bed crying.  
  
"Did you have another bad dream?" she asked.  
  
The tiny girl nodded, her dark green eyes glistening with tears. Lily took her in her arms and rocked her back and forth lightly singing an old song from Dublin about singing and dancing, it was Kerrie's favorite. Song enough the toddler was fast asleep.  
  
"Lily?" Michael called, slamming the door behind him.  
  
Lily tucked Kerrie into bed and rushed to greet her husband.  
  
"Shh, I just got the baby to sleep, what's wrong?" she asked seeing the fear glazed over his lively green eyes.  
  
"We have to leave, we have to leave now!" he instructed her.  
  
"What? Why?"  
  
"You know Caleb?"  
  
"Yes, he's your brother." she answered plainly.  
  
"Yes, my twin brother" he said emphasizing twin. "Well believe it or not, my darling brother Caleb is the leader of the Irish mafia."  
  
"Wait, wait, wait, there's an Irish mafia?" Lily asked unbelievingly.  
  
"Well, it looks like it. Anyway, the Italian mafia is after the Irish mafia because of some sort of dispute."  
  
Lily cut him off, "But what does this have to do with us?"  
  
"I was attacked today, by the Italian mafia, they think I'm my brother! They're trying to kill me! They know where we live, we have to go, NOW!!"  
  
Without any further questioning Lily did as she was told. She packed up a few things, grabbed her child and left. They went to the train station and got on the first train they saw, an express to New Jersey. 


	2. 1 year later

1 YEAR LATER  
  
"A piece of soda bread, a cup of tea, takes all the twoubles the bother me!"   
  
A tiny voice echoed through out a rather large house. Kerrie, now three years old, sat on the floor of the living, playing with her doll and singing a song she had just made up.  
  
"Is that one of grandmas old tunes sweetie?" Lily smiled at her daughter with pride.  
  
"Yes mommy, I remembered it, all by myself!" Kerrie beamed.  
  
Suddenly there was a knock at the door.  
  
"I'll get it!" called Michael from upstairs.  
  
"Ok" Lily called back, her green eyes still fixated on her child.  
  
Michael opened the door and was face to face, well face to chest, with a tall muscular man with black hair, and cold lifeless eyes.  
  
"So, we meet again Caleb." the man bellowed, revealing a shiny switchblade.  
  
Michael backed away from the door.  
  
"Listen, you got the wrong guy, I'm not Caleb, I'm-"  
  
The man stabbed him mid-sentence, right through the heart.  
  
"Dear, I hear some commotion, what's going on?" Lily said upon entering the foyer.  
  
She looked at the floor to see her husbands lifeless body lying in a pool of his own blood. She then looked up to see a man standing above him, a blood covered knife in hand. She put two and two together and ran. The man caught up to her in the living room and stabbed her in the upper abdomen. She fell to the floor sobbing. She opened her eyes to see her stunned three year old daughter next to her.  
  
"Mommy?" she said crawling closer.  
  
"It's ok baby." She despised the feeling of lying to her daughter.  
  
Kerrie began to cry. Not wanting Kerrie to draw attention to her self in fear that the man would find her and kill her too, Lily tried to calm the girl by singing.  
  
"Ride on the morning, set fourth the winds of fate, offer your longing, step to the merry tune, dance with the sunshine, go now with passion, let not this day pass, without a call to life"  
  
Kerrie smiled, "Keep going mommy, that's my favorite tune!"  
  
But Lily didn't respond. She had just sang her last song. 


	3. Realization of the tall man

The tall man looked down at Kerrie.  
  
"Oh shit, a kid, I wasn't expectin this" he said to himself.  
  
He picked up the little girl and raised his knife to her throat, his hand trembling violently. He dropped the knife.  
  
"Jesus H. Christ, I can't kill a kid!", he sighed, "Guess I'll jist have to take you to the orphanage."  
  
He picked his knife up, stepped over the body of the woman he had just killed, and was about the leave when something on the mantle caught his eye. It was a photo of the little girl and her parents happily smiling, all intertwined in a loving hug. He took it out of the frame and stuffed it in the pocket of Kerrie's jumper. The little girl looked up at him with great confusion.  
  
"I'se sorry little girl, but, I'm jist doin my job" he said to her, his cold brown eyes beginning to show some warmth. "C'mon, let's get you to the orphanage" he said as he took her out of her home and away from the family he has just destroyed. 


	4. Damn Kids

*ding dong*  
  
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" groaned a plump middle-aged woman rushing down the stairs.  
  
She opened the door, but no one was there.  
  
"Hmm, that's odd, damn kids"  
  
she was about to close the door when she caught a glimpse of something a fiery red color out of the corner of her eye. She looked down to see a child abandoned on the doorstep.  
  
"Ring the bell, leave the kid, and run" she muttered "how bloody original"  
  
She took the girl to a long corridor filled with make-shift cots.  
  
"This is where you'll be sleeping, what's your name kid?" the woman asked, dropping the tiny toddler on a bed.  
  
"My name's Kerrie, I'm three years old, and my birthday is in September." she said proudly.  
  
"I just asked for your name, not your life story." the woman muttered hastily, while scribbling the name 'Kerrie' on a piece of paper and nailing it to her bed.   
  
"Looks like we got another winner here" she remarked sarcastically as marched out of the room. 


	5. Molly

She awoke the next morning to see a girl about her age with brown hair and big green eyes standing next to her bed, staring at her.  
  
"Who are you?" Kerrie asked sleepily.  
  
The other little girl smiled "I'm Molly!, You've been sleeping forever, I thought you were dead!"  
  
Kerrie suddenly remembered where she was and what had happened and she started to cry. Molly look concerned,  
  
"Oh, but don't worry, you're not dead!"  
  
At that moment the plump middle aged woman Kerrie had met before came bursting through the door.  
  
"Molly!" she bellowed.  
  
Molly rolled her eyes and stepped forward, "Yes, Ms. Tiernan?"  
  
The woman stamped her feet loudly as she walked towards the little girl.  
  
"Did you forget who has bathroom duty today?!"  
  
"Um....you?" Molly guessed.  
  
Ms. Tiernans eyes blazed with fury, "No, you! Now get your unwanted little ass into the bathroom and start scrubbing, now!!"  
  
Molly scurried out of the room and Ms. Tiernan turned to Kerrie,  
  
"Quit yer blubberin, no one likes a cry baby, you're acting like you're three years old!"  
  
Kerrie stopped crying and wiped her eyes,  
  
"I am three years old."  
  
"A smart ass too? Well, guess what? No one likes a smart ass either! Just what I need, another little girl with a wise mouth running around here." Ms. Tiernan remarked bitterly, "Anyway, you're new so I'm gonna fill you in about how things go around here, ok? I command, you obey, got that? Good. Now, I command you to wash all the windows in this room, and you better obey me, or you won't get supper for a week" she said throwing her some cleaner and a rag.  
~~~~~~~~  
It was nearly three hours later when Kerrie finished the windows. Molly walked back in the room and collapsed on her bad.  
  
"I hate cleaning!" she wailed.  
  
Kerrie just stared at her.  
  
"What? Why are you staring at me?!" Molly asked slightly agitated.  
  
Kerrie averted her eyes and mumbled an apology. Molly looked at her and could tell how sad and lonely she was. She crept over to Kerrie's bed and sat next to her.  
  
"I'm sorry" she said softly, "Do you wanna be my friend?"  
  
Kerrie turned to her and nodded her head happily. They hugged, thus beginning a happy friendship. 


	6. 5 years later

5 YEARS LATER  
  
Molly and Kerrie came running into the bedroom laughing hysterically.  
  
"I can't believe we did that!" Molly gasped.  
  
"Happy ninth birthday!" Kerrie squealed.  
  
"GIRLS!" and evil voice screamed from down the hall.  
  
"uh oh! She found it!!" the both laughed.  
  
Ms. Tiernan entered the room, holding a dead rat by the tail.  
  
"I know you girls put this in my dresser drawer! I suggest you dispose of it not or suffer a more severe punishment than you're in for now!"   
  
She stormed out of the room. The girls once again collapsed in laughter.  
  
"What should we do with this?" asked Kerrie holding up the rat.  
  
Molly pondered for a few moments then got an evil gleam in her green eyes, she took the rat from Kerrie.  
  
"Let's put it under Corey's pillow!"  
  
Kerrie grinned and nodded her head in approval.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Ahh! A rat, a rat!" A tall lanky girl with big frizzy brown hair screamed.  
  
Molly and Kerrie stifled a giggle and got up from their beds.  
  
Ms. Tiernan barged in "What is the ruckus?!"  
  
"A rat! it was under my pillow! I think I'm gonna be sick!" Corey whined.  
  
Ms. Tiernan picked up the rat and threw it out the window.  
  
"Everyone out!" she screamed.  
  
Molly and Kerrie tip-toed out the door, but were pulled back in before they could escape.  
  
"Not you! This has gone far enough! You are both quarantined for a month!"  
  
"A month!!" the cried unison in disbelief.  
  
Ms. Tiernan grabbed them and threw them into a small with two bunk beds and a tiny bathroom. She slammed the door behind them and locked it tightly, laughing as she strolled away.  
  
Kerrie shrugged "Well, it's a month of sleeping late." 


	7. Roryn

TWO WEEKS LATER  
  
They heard the sound of keys rattling,  
  
"Maybe she's letting us out early!" Molly whispered from the top bunk.  
  
"And this will teach you not to pick fights!" they heard Ms. Tiernans voice boom as she threw another girl into the room.  
  
"Yea? Well screw you too!" yelled a young girl with sea green eyes and long red curly hair.  
  
"Welcome to quarantine" Kerrie said flatly.  
  
The girl stared at both of them coolly.  
  
"I don't even get my own freaking room in quarantine" she muttered.  
  
"Quite a mouth on ya for an 8 year old." Molly quipped.  
  
"How did you know I was 8?" she questioned.  
  
Molly shrugged "I'm gifted."  
  
"So what'd ya do to end up in here?" Kerrie asked broadly.  
  
"Picked a fight with some lanky bitch." she replied.  
  
Molly and Kerrie looked at each other and smiled,  
  
"You mean Corey?" the asked in unison.  
  
"That was freaky.....yea that's the one"   
  
"We're in here for putting a rat under her pillow!" laughed Molly.  
  
All three girls began laughing at their similarities.  
  
"I've never seen you before, I'm guessing your new?" Kerrie asked.  
  
"Yea, the name's Roryn, I got here a week ago...how long have you guys been in here?"  
  
Molly turned to look at the wall next to her, which was covered with tally marks.  
  
"Two weeks."  
  
Kerrie rolled her eyes and nodded, "Yea, and I'm going crazy!"  
  
Roryn got a mischievous look in her eyes,  
  
"What if you did go crazy?"  
  
"I smell a plan!" Molly grinned, while rubbing her hands together excitedly.  
  
"Come here." Roryn said.  
  
All the girls got into a huddle and began to laugh evilly.  
  
  
2 WEEKS LATER  
  
"Ok girls, time to come out, hopefully by now you've learned your lessons." Ms. Tiernan called, unlocking the door to the quarantine room.  
  
She opened the door and looked in.  
  
"oh my god!" she gasped at the sight of Molly and Roryn on the ground, covered in what seemed to be blood.  
  
"Where's Kerrie?" her mind raced.  
  
She looked around the room, the walls were covered in gruesome pictures and poems. All of the sudden Kerrie popped up in front of her.  
  
"I told you not to put me in here! I can't stand the boredom! But don't worry, Roryn and Molly let me have fun" she said madly.  
  
Ms. Tiernan quivered in fear and let out a tiny yelp. Molly lay on the floor, motionless and silent. When she heard Kerrie acting crazy, she couldn't help but to let out a soft snicker. That led Roryn and Kerrie to snicker too, soon enough all three girls were doubled over in laughter. Ms. Tiernan was infuriated.  
  
"That is not funny! Another month of quarantine for all of you! And clean up this mess!" she screamed slamming the door and angrily locking it.  
  
The girls were to busy laughing to care, Another strong friendship was just formed. 


	8. 3 years later

3 YEARS LATER  
  
"...because you're a stupid, unruly unloved little brat!"  
  
Molly and Roryn sat outside of Ms. Tiernans office, listening to the berating Kerrie was receiving. The door opened up and Kerrie walked out, tears streaming down her face.  
  
"I hate her so much!" she moaned.  
  
Roryn and Molly patted her of the back,  
  
"We know." the said in unison.  
  
Kerrie laughed, "That was freaky, come on, let's get out of here."  
  
Roryns eyes widened and a mischievous smile spread across her face.  
  
"Why don't we?" she said.  
  
"What are you babbling about?" Molly giggled.  
  
"Seriously! Let's break out of here tonight!" suggested Roryn enthusiastically.  
  
Molly shrugged, "I dunno...Kerr, are you up to this?"  
  
Kerrie sniffled, "Yes. It's a fabulous idea, I mean, if we haven't been adopted by now..."  
  
"Then we never will be." Molly finished her sentence for her." And we'll be stuck in here until we're sixteen."  
  
All three girls groaned at the thought.  
  
"So it's decided, we leave tonight. Go pack a few of the essentials, but be very discreet. We don't want anybody finding out about this." Roryn instructed. 


	9. escape

11 PM  
  
Everyone in the room was asleep. Everyone except Roryn who had laid awake for hours, waiting for the clock to strike 11. She crept out of her bed and grabbed a small bag of her things which she has stowed away underneath her cot. She took her only pair of shoes out of the bag and quietly slipped them on. She climbed onto her bed to open the window, which was the route of their escape. She peered outside.  
  
"Damn! It's raining." she thought.  
  
Knowing that the rain would pour in through the slightly ajar window and wake the person in the adjacent cot, who just happened to be Corey, the annoying lanky girl that always managed to get them in trouble, she decided to switch to plan B, the back door.  
Roryn tip-toed to Mollys cot and woke her up.  
  
"Get up, get your stuff, it's time to go" she whispered.  
  
Molly sleepily nodded and gathered her things and went to help Roryn wake up Kerrie, which was definitely no easy task. Once Kerrie was awake and unstupified, the three girls quietly snuck out of their room.  
That was the simple part, the challenging part would be sneaking past Ms. Tiernans room, which was on the way to the door leading to freedom.  
  
"Be very quiet and don't panic." Roryn instructed.  
  
They got down on their hands and knees and one by one the carefully crept by Ms. Tiernans room. Molly was the last one to pass. She was almost in the clear when...  
*CREEK*  
...She it a loose floor board.  
  
"Whats going on out there?" Ms. Tiernan called.  
  
The lights in her room flickered on.  
  
"Be very quiet, do not panic." Roryn reiterated.  
  
At that moment Ms. Tiernan came out into the hallway and spotted the three girls.  
  
"Girls, there better be a good explanation for this or you're all in BIG TROUBLE!"  
  
Roryn took a deep breath,  
  
"OK.....PANIC!!!"  
  
She and the other two girls ran to the back door and swung it open. They could hear Ms. Tiernan yelling for them to return, but they just kept on running through the dark rainy night. Suddenly something obstructed their path.  
  
"A fence, oh no!" Molly cried.  
  
Kerrie threw her bag over the side.  
  
"Climb it!" she yelled franticly.  
  
They climbed the fence, landing on the other side, the soft mud breaking their falls.  
  
"Eeeew! I'm all dirty!" Kerrie cried.  
  
"There's no time for that!" Roryn grabbed her hand and they darted quickly through the trees.  
  
Molly, being a bit ahead of them suddenly stopped.  
  
"Shit!" she exclaimed.  
  
"What is it?" asked Roryn who appeared beside her, without Kerrie.  
  
"There's a river!!"  
  
"A river?! Do you think we can make it across?" Roryn asked.  
  
"Not in this rain!...Where's Kerrie??"  
  
Kerrie was very behind, after Roryn let go of her she slowed down a bit. Also, not being very coordinated, she fell many a time.  
  
"I'm coming!" she shouted through the blinding rain.  
  
So blinding that she couldn't see a thing, and when she reached the other two, she ran right into Molly, sending her flying down the hill and into the river below.  
  
"Molly!" Roryn cried.  
  
She leaned over and tried to grab Mollys hand, but lost her balance and went toppling into the raging waters.  
  
"Guys? I'm sorry! Please be ok!" She called out to the vast darkness.  
  
An unmistakable voice from behind her silenced her calls.  
  
"Kerrie!" Ms. Tiernan screamed, her voice shrill with fury.  
  
Kerrie screamed and dove into the churning river after her friends. 


	10. Night guys

Kerrie sank under the freezing water but quickly resurfaced only to be hit with freezing rain. She couldn't see a thing and she was moving swiftly with the curent.   
  
"Guys!" she cried "where are you!"  
  
All of the sudden something grabbed her arm. It was Molly. She pulled Kerrie into a large crate that she and Roryn were already crammed into.  
  
"Oh my god I thought you guys were dead, I was so scared!" Kerrie cried, hugging them.  
  
"We thought you were drowned!" Roryn told her.  
  
The three girls cried and hugged one another.  
  
"What do we do now?" Kerrie asked, obviously scared.  
  
" we're gonna have to ride this downstream until the storm stops." Roryn answered.  
  
Molly started to giggle.  
  
"I can't believe you chose to dive into a raging river instead of facing Ms. Tiernan! That was great Kerrie!....Kerrie?"  
  
Kerrie didn't respond, she was fast asleep.  
  
"Damn that girl can sleep through anything! Right Roryn?" Molly laughed.   
  
Roryn was asleep too. Molly rolled her eyes and shrugged.  
  
"Good night guys" she whispered, nodding off too. 


	11. Look at those dirty little girls in that...

The next morning Kerrie awoke, her clothing damp, her hair matted with mud, and her surroundings strange and unfarmiliar. she sat up and looked over at her friends.  
  
"Are we dead?" she whispered.  
  
Molly shook her head, "No"  
  
"Ew! Look at those dirty little girls in that box!" remarked a nicely dressed girl of about fifteen.  
  
"Maybe we're not dead, but we're deffinitly in hell." Molly said rolling her eyes.  
  
"I heard that!" the nicely dressed girl said stamping her foot.  
  
"That was the point, princess." Roryn said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.  
  
The girl looked appauled. She took of her little white gloves and handed them to one of her nicely dressed friends. She grabbed Rorynby the arm and pulled her out of the crate.  
  
"You don't talk to someone like me like that! You need to be taught a lesson little girl!"  
  
She raised her hand, prepared to slap Roryn, when a large clump of mud landed on her beautiful white blouse.  
  
"Don't touch her!" Kerrie yelled.  
  
"MY SHIRT!" the girl cried.   
  
She let go of Roryn and tended her horribly stained blouse, her friend flocking around her as if she had just lost an arm.  
  
"Come on Roryn, run!" Molly yelled grabbing Roryn by the hand and running after Kerrie, who had already fled.  
  
They ran for about five minutes straight until they decided it was time to stop and take a breather.  
  
"In here" Molly said running into a narrow alley.   
  
The girls sat down, they where all tired and panting heavily. Roryn caught her breath and sheepishly said,  
  
"Thanks for doin that Kerr."  
  
"No problem, it was great to see her flip out like that!" Kerrie giggled.  
  
"Yea, you got her shirt so dirty!" Molly laughed.  
  
She reached up to brush a few strands of hair out of her face and looked at her hand disgustedly.  
  
"Speaking of dirty, we're pretty gross ourselves." Molly added.  
  
Kerrie ran her hand through her mud-matted hair.  
  
"Yes, that we are."  
  
"I guess we oughtta find a place where we can clean up." Roryn suggested.  
  
She crept over to the opening of the alley and looked out.  
  
"The coast is clear, let's go." 


	12. Food

Thanks to the cunning of Roryn, the girls were able to break into a local home and use their facilities. Finally clean and refreshed they headed out to get some food. After a few minutes of walking they come across a small diner packed with people eating and dancing. The three girls pressed their faces against the glass and stared longingly inside.  
  
"Anybody got any money?" Molly sighed, already knowing the answer to her query.  
  
"Nope, wish I did, god what I wouldn't do for some food right now!" Roryn groaned  
  
Kerries eyes lit up, "Leave it to me."   
  
She proceeded to crawl into the restaurant on her hands and knees, and returned a few moments later with a fist full of bills.  
  
She smiled, "Ok, now one of you go in there and order something."  
  
Molly excitedly took the money and raced inside. Roryn looked shocked.  
  
"Well, I guess you're not as much of a goodie goodie as I thought."  
  
While Kerrie was a trouble maker at the orphanage she was the most cautious of the three.  
  
"Guess not" She replied proudly.  
  
Molly came back with a bag in her hand.  
  
"Let's go someplace else and eat...I heard some people mentioning missing money, it's probably safer if we split."  
  
Roryn shrugged, "Well what are we still doin here? Let's stop yappin and start eatin!" she said before hastily begining to run off. 


End file.
